Armey: 'Is Romney everything we would hope to have? No'

Former Texas Rep. and House Majority Leader Dick Armey said Thursday that while Mitt Romney will receive diligent support from tea party activists across the country, he’s not exactly everything they’re looking for.

“Is Romney everything we would hope to have? No,” Mr. Armey, chairman of the conservative group FreedomWorks, said on CNN’s “Starting Point. “But is President Obama proven to be everything we were afraid he might be? Yes. So obviously, if you a 180-degree turnaround and you get a Romney that’s not perfectly [agreeing] with us, as opposed to a President Obama who is openly contemptuous of our values, then clearly we’ve made a big turnaround.”

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While Mr. Romney struggled with ginning up grassroots conservative support throughout the Republican primary season, Mr. Armey reiterated that given the other option, the choice is now clear.

“We have no doubt that he is an enormous upgrade in the quality — intellectual, understanding of America to the principles of private enterprise, economic growth, sound policy, restraint of government,” Mr. Armey said. “The difference between Romney and Obama is incredible.”

“I tell you, the grassroots activists across this country known as the tea party activists will work diligently for Romney because a 180-degree turnaround is a big change, and we’ll have removed what we perceive to be the biggest threat to our liberty in our lifetime in the presidency of Barack Obama,” he continued.